Hotels:

All top class. Beautifully furnished. And noted this trip very comfortable beds and pillows. Minor problems with plumbing in Suzhou but attended to promptly.

No complaints. All hotels were more than I expected in China.

Very good standard. Hangzhou for gardens and 1950s charm was impressive. Tongli - Lake, gardens and rocks, great. Suzhou, proximity to Panmen gardens- and nearby shopping- great. Staff at all hotels very helpful.

Very nice.

Very good.

All excellent. Some slow to deliver luggage, especially when we were due to go out again for dinner.

Amazing selection of foods for breakfast. Astonishing variety of chandeliers, much marble and mostly very plush. Very good, very comfortable- variety of styles also interesting.

All very good to excellent. Wonderful breakfasts, helpful staff. Lovely to return to luxury each evening. The gardens in and around the hotels were wonderful.

Guides

All excellent and caring, very friendly- "Tony" I found very caring and considerate of us all. Early days for him as a guide but he will do well for himself.

All guides lovely people and so helpful and informative. Not forgetting our lovely bus drivers who got us safely through the traffic.

Very knowledgeable and willing to assist. Great assistance at meal times for vegan food. Guides were very generous with details of personal life in China which was more interesting than history.

Excellent.

Excellent.

All superb. Sometimes too many stories and not enough about immediate locations ( but that is the Chinese way!).

Interesting and knowledgeable people. It was great to get a peek into China through the guides eyes.

Very interesting to talk to. Happy to talk about anything. Found the older guides more frank. Most of the guides not very knowledgeable about trees but fantastic otherwise.Frustrated that we were taken to government shops and pressured to buy. Not much chance to shop with the locals. Did love the book shop on the last day.

Sightseeing

All places were interesting and different at each city we visited.

Programme was well thought out. Enjoyed gardens.

Wonderful variety, different styles of gardens was a highlight. It was good to see the other side being the object of sightseeing in Luoyang.

Fantastic.

Varied and interesting. Fabulous.

Plenty and well-paced.

What an amazing place and the people are lovely.

The gardens were wonderful. The attention to detail. Learnt lots and got lots of ideas. The temples, pagodas, grottoes, Great Wall, palaces all exceeded expecttaions. Not too much walking for me. Loved everywhere we went and what we did.

Food.

Excellent. Delicious. Meat dishes restricted due to problem with the poultry industry. Plenty of food each meal- more than you could eat. Vegies cooked to perfection. Loved the eggplant.

I am not a Chinese food eater but always found something from the many dishes to enjoy. The restaurants were all great. Really enjoyed the Farmer's lunch and the Peking duck. Lovely to have beautiful Western breakfast.

A standout was when the guides were able to move from the formulaic contract to provide real diversity that makes up Chinese cuisine. Thanks for the help with vegan catering. It would have been very difficult to manage this alone.

Some highlights were the two meals in Tongli and in Xi'an when Kris who is a foodie took us to some different restaurants.Always plenty of food but sometimes bland and not very tasty. Breakfasts in the hotels all excellent.

Travel within China ( buses, trains, etc)

Very comfortable tourist buses. Drivers very competent drivers and friendly.

Enjoyed the fast train. Perhaps more train travel to view the country. Buses were great with wonderful guides.

Bus travel gave an opportunity to appreciate countryside between cities.

Very good.

All very modern. Loved travelling in the bus to see the countryside.

Bus travel was pretty scary at times but drivers were excellent and caring, courteous and helpful.

Good.

Mostly our bus drivers were good. One in Shanghai was scary. Flights good. Bullet train an experience. Wondered about the safety in the boat ride in Tongli ( Suzhou ?). Rather scary.

Your favourite city and why:

Suzhou and Tongli. Loved the beautiful gardens and quaint township along the canals.

Tongli. Where we saw wealthy hotels etc to poverty and century-old buildings, old narrow streets and markets. Poverty seen on the boat ride and yet people so happy and friendly.

If Xi'an wasn't so abominably polluted, I imagine living there would be an enjoyable experience. Tongli had grace and charm.

Xi'an even though it was so polluted. It had a feeling of great history and also examples of modernity- the amazing sculptures of dancers. The Muslim Market was facinating. I would love to explore it more.

Most favourite moment;

No one moment stands out. Every day was memorable. Was overwhelmed by friendship and fascination of the Chinese people- from young to old- with us Westerners. Sometimes it was a continous photo shoot. A small child gave me a head circlet of artificial peony flowers.

Walking the Great Wall and learning the history. And of course- seeing acres of peonies. And how can I leave out the wonderful Chinese massages, The rickshaw ride through original buildings.

This trip was a dream of my life time. Thanks to Di Clanchy. She made this possible for me.

Peonies were superb- just so beautiful.. Terracotta warriors- no words could describe them. Wall of China: stuff of dreams. Fabulous spring blossoms.

Too hard, too many.

Cruising down the Huangpu River at night surrounded by neon-lit buildings on both sides.Talking to the other passengers from around the world. Such a buzz. Massive coal carriers passing by.

Any other comments?

Witnessing the joy in their eyes when giving a child an Australian postcard, and having your smile returned. A suggestion: because of the long trip to airport ( Melb) and long flight/s to China, the first day sightseeing be reduced to half a day instead of a full-on day in heat.

Loved the small group where you get to know everyone. Thanks Di for your help and care. Nothing was too much trouble.

Appreciated being a small tour there were many opportunities to stop and talk to the locals.

What a memorable trip. The company of all the other travellers completed the trip.

Being able to see the stars in Beijing. NO POLLUTION THAT DAY! So beautifuly paced tour- very caring especially those days I was struggling!

Thanks Di, really enjoyable.

Would have liked to visit one of the farms we saw along the highways with the farmers 4 storey houses and talked to them about what they grew. Would have liked to have a quieter first couple of days to recover from the flight and would have liked a little more free time but would not have crossed anything off the list.